Of Men and Women...

Who out there thinks that this title is puzzling?Well, it is in reference to a classic book written by John Steinbeck titled 'Of Mice and Men'.I made that reference because the story strikes me as being representative of the human condition in a certain way.Mr.Steinbeck took his title from Robert Burns's poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry.)In this story,we meet two men who are willing to overcome all odds in order to realise their dream of owning their own farm.
Regardless of who we are or what we have done,every person needs to work through life,facing the challenges that come along with the courage and perseverance that is needed to make it.Thankfully,courage is a character trait that can be acquired or learnt even when we do not possess it as a normal part of ourselves.
Courage sees a mountain in the way of attaining a dream as just a hurdle to be jumped and goes right ahead to do just that-jump it!A person with courage recognises that there will always be obstacles in his/her way but chooses to go that way anyway!A person with courage is willing to take a risk knowing that life in itself is a risky business and in order to succeed,you have to take a risk.
Persistence is that ability which refuses to give up even when all seems lost.There are times when it seems like our dreams are just within reach, but then something happens that seems to just push us away from reaching out and grabbing them.If we lack persistence at this point,we are likely to just give up and then console ourselves with the thought that we almost had it.Almost,however,is not the same as actually doing it,and we find out later that if we had only waited just a little bit longer,our dreams would be realities.
I meet a lot of people everyday who say that they wish they had their own businesses or their own houses,cars and so on.It is all well and good to wish,but there are practical things that we can do to turn those wishes into dreams and those dreams into reality.However the road to achieving those dreams is often paved with stumbling blocks and obstacles.Are you willing to face them with courage and perseverance?

A New Year.....But what is New?

Welcome to 2011, a new year with new challenges and experiences to enjoy. We begin every year in much the same way, with a lot of resolutions, hopes and dreams, some of which are fulfilled by the end of the year and most which never see the light of day. I know that a few of us are probably tired of the whole fuss that is made at the beginning of each new year especially since each year seems to just blur past in the same fashion of the previous year. I was one of those people until a few things changed my perspective.

First was a saying I discovered from Abraham Lincoln. He said that ‘The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time’. Entering the New Year I begun to make some plans and set some goals, however I became a little discouraged along the way, especially considering the fact that few of the plans I had made for 2010 had actually come to pass. I thought that since most of these plans were not going to be realities it was no use making them. After coming across this saying I begun thinking and realised that the future was a day at a time so I needed to achieve my plans a day at a time. For me that meant I needed to set daily targets or goals which would help me to achieve the goals I had set for the whole year.

Secondly I realised that one thing that had resulted in most of my hopes not coming to pass was my inability to translate my thoughts into action. As Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said ‘A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much, and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all’. So I made the decision to be a person of action this year.

After all is said and done, 2011 is only as new as you decide it should be. It can be a new year for you, resulting in great accomplishments of your hopes and dreams, or it can be just like last year, with very few of your dreams coming to pass. In other words, the date may have changed but if you are going to be doing the same things in the same way, you are going to achieve the same old results. If you really want this to be a new year, try becoming a new person.

I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year filled with great accomplishments and fulfilled dreams, but always remember that ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever’. Catch you later!